LONDON, ON, Jan. 25, 2011 – The Great-West Life Assurance Company today announced enhancements to its financial education services offered exclusively in the group retirement market to Great-West Life’s group retirement plan sponsors and their plan members through Acquaint Financial Inc.
Since 2004, Acquaint Financial Inc. has complemented Great-West Life’s financial education services with additional options for group retirement plan sponsors to offer plan members. Over 200,000 plan members currently have access to this service.
Great-West Life and Acquaint have now enhanced these services:
- iAcquaint online financial education can now be extended to employees who aren’t eligible for, or haven’t enrolled in, their sponsor’s group retirement plan. A web-based tool, iAcquaint provides general financial education to help members better manage their personal finances. Available 24-7, the tool gives members access to debt and credit counsellors, interactive learning modules and more.
- Plan sponsors can now provide members with one-on-one financial counselling using Acquaint’s CareerStagesTM programs. This new service allows plan members to customize the counselling to suit their retirement plan’s unique needs.
“The need for people to effectively manage personal finances has never been greater,” says Jeff Aarssen, Great-West Life’s Vice-President, Group Retirement Services, Sales & Marketing. “As provincial and federal governments continue to focus on reforms to Canada’s retirement income system, more plan sponsors are requesting services to help plan members take charge of their financial futures. Together with our in-house retirement planning education resources and Acquaint’s financial education services, Great-West Life is providing solutions to help plan sponsors achieve this goal.”
Asaf Shad, President and CEO of Acquaint Financial Inc., says, “As independent financial educators, our mandate is to provide effective, interactive and reliable financial education. Educated members are likely to make better financial decisions. Together with Great-West Life, we can help members improve their personal financial plans and take charge of their financial future.”
About Acquaint Financial Inc.
Acquaint Financial Inc. is an independent provider of fee-for-service financial education and counselling solutions for employees across Canada. Acquaint provides dynamic financial education services to make it easier for employers to fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities while helping their members prepare for a financially secure future. Acquaint is headquartered in Brampton.
About Great-West Life
Great-West Life administers over 17,000 group retirement plans and over 1.2 million member accounts, representing nearly 30 per cent of capital accumulation plans (CAPs) in Canada.* In the United States, Great-West Life is the fourth-largest group retirement plan record keeper based on total participants and Putnam Investments adds to the organization’s North American presence in this market. www.greatwestlife.com
